Apple’s next-generation iPhone will most probably be an S-refresh dubbed as the ‘iPhone 6s’ which is likely to make its debut this Fall. iPhone 6s is likely going to run on a new Apple A9 chip. Despite the fact that Apple and Samsung are bitter rivals, as much as 75 percent of Apple A9 chips will be manufactured by Samsung, reports Reuters citing Maeil Business, a South Korean newspaper.
According to the report, Samsung will be manufacturing 75% of the total A9 chips in its factory in Austin, Texas. However, it’s unclear how much the contract is worth and what other suppliers will be fulfilling the remaining 25% of the orders.
A report last month said that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) will remain the major Apple supplier for the A9 mobile processors. Samsung on its part confirmed that it would start production before the end of 2014.

While the current A8 and A8X chips, which are used in current-latest iPhone and iPad devices, use the 20-nanometer tech, the A9 should be built on Samsung’s 14-nanometer process technology. Orders for Apple A8/A8X mobile chips are split between TMSC and Samsung, where TMSC secured about 70 percent of the total orders.

Introduction of 14-nanometer process will result in not only a faster A9 chip, it will also be power efficient. The use of smaller transistor will conserve more power as electrons will need only travel a much shorter distance.

Previous reports suggested that Apple is looking for the options to move away from Samsung or atleast lessen its dependency on its major rival. But due to huge popularity of its products, Apple has struggled to find a reasonable supplier with capabilities to meet its supply demands.

Ming-Chi of the KGI Securities expects TSMC to secure vast majority of orders of A10 chip to be used in ‘iPhone 7,’ ‘S2’ chip to be used in 2nd generation Apple Watch, and an ‘A10X’ processor for 2016 iPad models.